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Frontex Operations

All operations
coordinated by Frontex are intelligence-driven. They are based on a detailed
risk analysis of the situation at the external borders, migratory trends,
situation in the countries of origin and transit, methods used by
people-smuggling networks, strengths and vulnerabilities of border control at
the specific points of the external EU borders. A detailed operational plan is
devised in consultation with an EU country which is either currently facing
migratory flows or is likely to in the future. The Operational plan includes
the number and the type of technical equipment (vessels, planes, patrol cars
etc.), as well as the number and the specialisation of border guards to be
deployed – these can include, according to the needs, forged document experts,
border surveillance officers, debriefing officers, screeners. Frontex then sends out a call for
participation to all EU Member states and Schengen Associated countries (SAC)
in order to fill out the required deployment needs. Once all the equipment prescribed
in the operational plan is provided, a Joint Operation is launched.

It should be noted
that all the deployed officers (guest officers or GOs) work under the command
and control of the authorities of the country hosting the operation. In practice
this means that an officer from the host country is always present aboard every
vessel, aircraft or patrol car deployed by Frontex.

An
operation may be launched by the agency upon a request from a Member State
facing challenges at its external border. The agency’s Executive Director can
also recommend a joint operation or rapid border intervention to a Member State
based on the results of the vulnerability assessment.

We provide law enforcement officers from the Member States
and Schengen Associated Countries, along with vessels, airplanes and border
surveillance equipment to external border areas in need of additional
assistance. Frontex has officers and operations at a number of EU’s land, sea
and air borders. For more information, go here.

In
situations requiring increased operational assistance, the agency can carry out
operations on the territory of a country neighbouring at least one
participating Member State. Such operations will, of course, require the prior
agreement and the involvement of the third country’s authorities.

Frontex deploys vessels, aircraft, patrol cars, heartbeat detectors, and
other equipment, to operational areas, depending on the needs of the
host member state. The deployment levels depend on the level of
migratory pressure in the area.

In its
operations, the agency has mainly been using vessels, aircraft, vehicles and
other technical equipment that belongs to EU Member States. Frontex is now also
able to buy or lease its own equipment, such as patrol cars. The agency leases
planes and remotely piloted aircraft for air surveillance to support EU Member
States in border control.

Frontex deploys an average of 1500 officers to European Union’s external
borders at one time. They include crews of vessels, border surveillance
officers, document experts, identification and registration officers, and
others. For more information about the officers working in our operations, see here.

Training is one of the key tasks of Frontex. Every year the agency trains
several thousand officers from all around Europe. Last year, Frontex trained
nearly 4000 officers.

It is important that all officers working at Europe’s external borders have
the same level of knowledge and the same skills. This is why Frontex regularly
organises courses for officers at land, sea and air borders. The goal is to
create a European border guard community with the highest professional and
ethical standards.

Frontex currently coordinates three operations at airports
across Europe. They aim to enhance EU airport border guards’ document
expertise, improve operational coordination and exchange of information between
airports. They also contribute to identifying risks and threats at European air
borders.

Operations at airports are smaller in scale than those at
sea and land, but no less important in European efforts to strengthen border
security at external borders.

Search and Rescue (SAR) is always a priority for everyone operating at sea. The agency provides support (to Member States and non-EU countries) in SAR operations during its maritime operations. The search and rescue operations are carried out in accordance with EU and international law.

International law obliges all captains of vessels to provide assistance to any persons found in distress at sea. SAR is also a specific objective of the operational plan of every Frontex joint maritime operation. For this reason, vessels deployed by Frontex to an operational area are always ready to provide support to the national authorities in SAR operations.

It is important to stress that all SAR operations are coordinated by the national Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres (MRCC). The MRCC orders those vessels which are either the closest to the incident or the most capable ones (due to the specialised training of the crew, or the vessels specifications, etc.) to assist in the rescue. These may include national commercial or military vessels, vessels deployed by Frontex, private boats and other.

During a standard border control operation, Frontex-deployed vessels operate under the command of the International Coordination Centre (ICC), but when contacted by the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre and redirected to a SAR operation, it is the MRCC that takes command. Once Frontex assets reach people in distress, they first provide immediate medical assistance and give them food and water. Once a rescue operation is completed, migrants are disembarked and handed over to the national authorities for identification and registration. In Italy and Greece, Frontex officers assist in registration and identification of the large numbers of arrivals in hotspots.

In Italy, Frontex coordinates Joint Operation Themis. We supports
Italy with border control, surveillance, search and rescue in the Central
Mediterranean, as well as coast guard functions and combatting cross-border crime.

Frontex is playing an increasingly important role in
returning people who are not entitled to remain in the European Union to their
home countries. The agency helps Member States in coordinating and financing
return operations, but can also launch them on its own initiative. For this purpose, Frontex can charter flights
and book seats on commercial flights. The agency also helps with obtaining the
necessary travel documents for the returnees and providing experts to assist
with the return operations.

First of all, it has to be stressed that it is the Greek
authorities, who are in charge of the entire readmission process. All persons
to be readmitted have to have gone through an individual decision-making
process in full accordance with EU- and international law. Only when this
process is completed, Frontex supports the Greek
authorities by providing transportation and escort officers supporting the
Greek officers to accompany the transport. The Greek
authorities are in charge of public order and security on the islands.

Frontex cannot decide on who is to be readmitted
to Turkey. This decision can only be taken by the Greek authorities. Frontex is
not involved in this process and Frontex cannot and does not enter into the
merit of return decisions issued by the individual EU Member States. The
readmission operation is coordinated between the Greek and Turkish authorities
as part of the EU-Turkey Statement. The Greek authorities are responsible for
making sure that all migrants to be readmitted have been subject to individual
decisions taken in full accordance with EU- and international law.

Integrated Border Management (IBM) reflects the fact that
what happens at a national border is only a small part of a much bigger
process. IBM focuses on what happens before a person crosses a border (whether
passengers have all the required documents, such as valid passport, visa,
etc.), during the border crossing (document and database checks) and after a
person crosses the border (determination whether the person has the right to
remain in the EU/Schengen area or whether there is a need for international
protection). To maintain the balance between easing legitimate travel and
policing the border, IBM requires a high degree of cooperation between member
states of the EU and Schengen Area, as well as across the external borders with
the authorities of neighbouring states and travellers’ countries of origin or
transit. In short, Integrated Border Management (IBM) includes the following
key elements: · Border control, in the form of border checks at the sea, land
and air borders and border surveillance · Search and rescue operations ·
Inter-agency cooperation and coordination of the Member States’ and EU’s
activities · Cooperation with third countries and neighbouring countries ·
Return of third-country nationals who are the subject of return decisions
issued by a Member State.

Frontex operations are increasingly multipurpose. This means
that boats and planes deployed in its operations also collect and share
information relevant to fisheries control, detection of pollution and compliance
with maritime regulations in cooperation with relevant EU agencies.

Maritime Aerial Surveillance provides a new way to monitor Europe’s external borders and sharing this information in real time, allowing for instant reactions by Frontex and national authorities to events such as rescue operations and suspected cross-border criminal activities.MAS uses surveillance planes that stream video and other data from the Central Mediterranean directly to the Frontex Situation Centre (FSC) at the agency’s headquarters in Warsaw, along with relevant national and European authorities.